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image captionThe plot targeted a rally led by exiled Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi
An Iranian diplomat has been convicted of a plot to bomb a big French rally held by an exiled opposition group.
Assadollah Assadi, 49, who worked at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, was given a 20-year jail term by the court in Antwerp in Belgium.
It was the first time an Iranian official had faced such charges in the EU since the 1979 revolution.
Three others were also convicted. They were arrested during a joint operation by German, French and Belgian police.
Tehran insists the plot was a fabrication.
Belgian court sentences Iranian diplomat to 20 years for bomb plot against exiled opposition group
Assadolah Assadi is the first Iranian official to be prosecuted in the European Union for terrorism
4 February 2021 • 10:54am
Protestors waved flags outside the Antwerp Criminal court ahead of the verdict in the trial of Assadollah Assadi,
Credit: DIRK WAEM/AFP
An Iranian diplomat has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for plotting to bomb an Iranian exile opposition meeting in France that was attended by five British MPs.
Three accomplices, dual Iranian-Belgians, were given jail terms of between 15 and 18 years and stripped of their Belgian citizenship.
Iranian government official since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.
The U.S. government has designated Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1984. The Iranian government has long sharply rejected the designation and has denied involvement in the Assadi plot, although European authorities charged that the 49-year-old diplomat operated from the Iranian Embassy in Vienna.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, a speaker at past NCRI rallies, told a webinar hosted by the group Thursday the verdict in the case “validated” the characterization of Iran as a sponsor of international terrorist activity.
“The United States and the EU, and frankly, freedom-loving nations around the world who have embraced the notion of a accountability and the rule of law owe an incredible debt of gratitude to the people of Belgium, their judicial system [and] their security service for their courage, for their thoroughness in this investigation,” said Mr. Ridge.
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Video report by ITV News Global Security Editor Rohit Kachroo
An Iranian official has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for masterminding a 2018 bomb plot that targeted an exiled opposition group s rally in France attended by thousands of people including UK MPs and Donald Trump s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Assadollah Assadi, 49, who worked at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, had his plea for diplomatic status rejected by the Belgium court and was given the maximum prison term for attempted terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group. According to the investigation, Assadi the explosives to Austria on a commercial flight from Iran and later handed the bomb over to a couple - Amir Saadouni and Nasimeh Naami - during a meeting at a Pizza Hut restaurant in Luxembourg.